Day Care Center Sparks Debate

Harvard University's commitment to accessible child care vied with the interests of junior faculty last night in a meeting between residents of the Botanic Gardens Apartments and members of Harvard Planning and Real Estate (HPRE).

The meeting was held to discuss a proposed child care center that is scheduled to be built on the property beginning in March 1998.

The 26 Robinson St. facility will house the Harvard Law School (HLS) Child Care Center, which has been relocated from its 23 Everett St. site to allow certain academic programs to move closer to the central core of the University.

But residents said that the Botanic Gardens site will create a host of problems for them.

The 6,000 square-foot facility and playground will result in lost parking and open space and create noise and traffic, according to the tenants of the 110 units in the Botanic Gardens Apartments.

Power and other representatives of HPRE acknowledged the tenants' concerns but said that there is no other site available for the facility.

"Child care is a big issue," said Susan K. Keller, director of residential real estate for HPRE. "This facility meets a larger need."

Tenants said that they were not protesting against child care but were decrying the HPRE, which they believed acted in bad faith by not informing them about the construction--scheduled to take place during the current lease--when they signed their year-long rental agreements last July.

"By opposing the building we are made to look like we are against child care," said one resident who asked to remain anonymous. "They're trying to make it into a humanitarian issue."

The seven residents who attended the meeting, all of whom said they were junior faculty or spouses of junior faculty members, declined to give their names for fear of antagonizing University officials.

"The junior faculty is the most vulnerable group of people in this University," said one resident who identified himself as an assistant professor of literature.

"You don't want to make enemies among people who make tenure decisions," he added.

Residents also said they believed that the increased noise level, both during construction and after the center opens, would prevent them from focusing on their work and ultimately damage their careers.

The books and articles necessary for advancement on the academic ladder are typically written in the summer months, residents said, and would coincide with construction of the facility.

Moreover, residents said, most junior faculty members do not have offices and must work at home.

"With a building of this kind, you are going to directly jeopardize the junior faculty and their work," one resident said.

But representatives of HPRE said that the Botanic Gardens site was the only possible location for the child care center.

"I was a little surprised that this was so negatively received," Keller said, citing HPRE's successful integration of child care and housing facilities at Peabody Terrace, DeWolfe Street Housing and at Soldiers' Field Park.

Besides the opposition that HPRE is facing from residents, problems have also arisen because the current plans do not conform to Cambridge zoning laws. HPRE will appear before the city Board of Zoning Appeal on November 20 to seek several zoning variances.

The current plans do not allow the required front and side yard setback and the between-building setback, and they exceed the per-lot building density.

Residents said they were hopeful that the board of zoning appeal would not approve the plans, but architect Miguel Marquez-Ibanez said that the request for variances is not out of the ordinary.

"There's probably no lot in Cambridge that wouldn't need one of these variances," he said.

Keller declined to predict the outcome of the zoning meeting

"You don't want to make enemies among people who make tenure decisions," he added.

Residents also said they believed that the increased noise level, both during construction and after the center opens, would prevent them from focusing on their work and ultimately damage their careers.

The books and articles necessary for advancement on the academic ladder are typically written in the summer months, residents said, and would coincide with construction of the facility.

Moreover, residents said, most junior faculty members do not have offices and must work at home.

"With a building of this kind, you are going to directly jeopardize the junior faculty and their work," one resident said.

But representatives of HPRE said that the Botanic Gardens site was the only possible location for the child care center.

"I was a little surprised that this was so negatively received," Keller said, citing HPRE's successful integration of child care and housing facilities at Peabody Terrace, DeWolfe Street Housing and at Soldiers' Field Park.

Besides the opposition that HPRE is facing from residents, problems have also arisen because the current plans do not conform to Cambridge zoning laws. HPRE will appear before the city Board of Zoning Appeal on November 20 to seek several zoning variances.

The current plans do not allow the required front and side yard setback and the between-building setback, and they exceed the per-lot building density.

Residents said they were hopeful that the board of zoning appeal would not approve the plans, but architect Miguel Marquez-Ibanez said that the request for variances is not out of the ordinary.

"There's probably no lot in Cambridge that wouldn't need one of these variances," he said.

Keller declined to predict the outcome of the zoning meeting